Cricket Coaching Spin Bowling Tips/ Controlling Line and Length

by Parteek

Graeme Swann: Bowling Action Sequence

Hi Coach, I am an off spin bowler, I keep dropping the ball short, even though I want to bowl full it still drops short. Please offer some advice for this.

Hi Parteek, we can sort this out, it will take some work but you will end up with a much more consistent length and line.

You will need to focus on the pace of your run up and a strong, correct bowling action.

Pace of run up: If you are too slow in your approach to the crease you end up having to do too much work in the crease to generate spin, pace and bounce. This can throw you out of your action, you lose your front arm position and a stable release position.

Many young spinners nowadays have copied Shane Warne and walk into the crease, regardless of whether they are wrist or finger spinners.

This was fine for Shane, who could generate a huge amount of power in the crease with superb control.

This is not the norm though, we are going to work from the perspective of needing a good run up to bring pace into the crease and energy into your action.

Just like Graeme Swann, Anil Kumble, Mutthiah Muralitharan and Saqlain Mushtaq.

So you need to assess, do you have enough length on your run up, with enough pace to get you into and through the crease? See the flicker sequence photo that shows the amount of pace and energy that Graeme Swann has brought into the crease and drives him through his action.

How will you know if you have enough pace going into the crease?

Spin Bowlers Run Up Drill 1:

I learnt a good drill from Saqlain Mushtaq when we worked together with Pakistan, which will help with this, which is to warm up by bowling spin as a medium pacer.

You can play around with this to get your pace right, it will drive you through the crease and give you plenty of energy on the ball. The goal after this is to slow it down so that you are stable and strong in your action.

Next is to make sure that you have a high front arm so that you ‘set’ the front side of your body. You are ‘setting’ your release point so that it is consistent, ball after ball.

I want your front arm and front knee to be up in the air so that you can snap them down and drive over your front leg. See the photo of Graeme Swann again for an example of this.

Off Spin Practice Drill 2: Target Bowling

We put a target ( cone or a soft drink bottle ) on a length outside off stump. For a length measure two and half walking paces down the wicket from the batters crease, the line is for it to hit the top of off stump when it has spun.

We want to be in a normal release position, standing in the crease in a side on position with front arm high and front knee up … we look at the target then we bowl, aiming to hit the target, snap the front arm out and down and the front leg down … and drive through your action.

We begin standing still, this is our first drill off 1 step, we bowl 12 balls, then we go 3 paces back and bowl another 12 balls. We repeat the drill going back to 5 paces and then to 7 paces, each time bowling 12 balls and aiming to hit the target.

We keep a count of how many hits we achieve off each step, each bowling session we do we aim to move to the next level and beat the previous target.

Be Patient: Do this 2 to 3 times a week out of season, in season do it 1 or two times a week, you can do it before training as a warm up.

The results will come slowly, be patient, you need for these different parts of your run up, bowling action and technique to grow together.

Good luck and good skills, best wishes Coach

About Richard Pybus

I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.